The Paki O’Meara experiment didn’t necessarily go as planned in Iowa’s opener on Sept. 5 against Northern Iowa.

Consequently, three days after the junior running back ran the ball nine times for an uninspiring 16 yards, head coach Kirk Ferentz bumped the Cedar Rapids native from the starting spot in favor of redshirt freshman Adam Robinson.

A Des Moines native, Robinson gave a boost to the lifeless Hawkeye running game against the Panthers, rushing for 63 yards on 15 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown scamper early in the third quarter.

“At this point we think he did the best Saturday,” Ferentz said. “It [was] his first time out on the game field. So that was a good start for him. But all that being said, he’s still a young player.”

Playing in his first game in an Iowa uniform last weekend, Robinson shone the most in the absence of sophomore Jewel Hampton, who was the expected starter before a knee injury ended his season.

Following Hampton’s injury, Ferentz named the more experienced O’Meara as the starter for last week’s game. Iowa barely escaped Northern Iowa, 17-16, as its running game sputtered for the first time since 2007, when Shonn Greene wasn’t the featured back.

Robinson will now assume the starting role a year after first arriving on campus. The last Iowa back to do that was Ladell Betts, who started eight games as a redshirt freshman in 1998.

“This is my dream,” Robinson said. “It’s a great feeling. … I can’t even think of the words right now to describe it.”

Despite O’Meara’s lackluster performance against Northern Iowa, which included a costly fumble right after halftime, Ferentz said at his press conference on Tuesday the former walk-on would “continue to play” and that the coaches “will keep and open mind [for] that entire position.”

Ferentz still has a host of youngsters at his disposal, including redshirt freshman Jeff Brinson and true freshman Brandon Wegher. Brinson is coming back from an ankle injury, and Wegher saw limited time on special teams against Northern Iowa.

Neither of the two saw any action in the backfield last weekend. When asked whether Brinson or Wegher could see time this coming Saturday in Ames, Ferentz said, “Anything can happen.”

“Shonn Greene is not coming back. We know that,” the 11-year head coach said. “So we’re going to have to find other ways to be productive on offense.”

Wide receiver situation

Quarterback-turned-wide-receiver sophomore Marvin McNutt turned in an impressive performance in his first game playing outside the hashes. So did senior Trey Stross, leaving Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Iowa’s leading pass-catcher from a year ago, without many touches.

A year after catching 44 balls, the junior was only thrown to once against Northern Iowa. And it wasn’t as though the Hawkeyes weren’t throwing the ball. Junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi attempted more passes against Northern Iowa (34) than he ever had previously.

“[Johnson-Koulianos] did a nice job in the second half,” Ferentz said. “[He] made a tremendous catch on a tough third-down conversion. … We’re counting on Derrell to play. … It just so happens Marvin’s played well, too. But I look at it from the standpoint that we lost a good one with Andy Brodell, but we’ve also gained some guys.”